Horizontally sliding doors of the type commonly used on farm and industrial buildings are hung from overhead split rails which are mounted to the wall above the associated doorway. Ordinarily the rail is attached to the building by means of a plurality of mounting brackets which are affixed to the rail by welding and which include extensions to which a cover or flashing is mounted to protect the rail and the associated trolleys from the elements.
In the past it has been the usual practice in the industry to assemble the mounting brackets and the flashing brackets to the rail at the factory to facilitate installation at the building site. However, because of the usual construction of the flashing brackets, they being relatively long, shipping of the assembled rails was difficult and expensive and often time resulted in damage to the flashing brackets.
U.S. Pat. No 4,424,605 describes one attempted solution to this problem wherein the flashing brackets are provided with extending tabs which are fitted between the top of the rail and an overlying portion of the rail support brackets. That construction enables the shipping of the rails and brackets in a disassembled condition, but it is necessary to hammer the bracket into place which sometimes damages the brackets. Moreover, once assembled, the flashing brackets cannot be removed from the associated rail assembly. It has also been suggested to screw or bolt separate flashing brackets to the rail or rail support brackets at the site of the installation, but that substantially increases the time and cost of the installation.